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Real Madrid pulled off an incredible 3-1 comeback victory over Manchester City to reach the final of the Champions League with an aggregate of 6-5. The victory was capped off by a clinical penalty in the 95th minute by Karim Benzema. Similarly, with this goal, he also equaled Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for most knockout goals in a single UCL campaign with 10 goals.
So far in the 2021-22 season, Benzema has scored 43 goals in 43 games and is also a goal away from Raul's 323 goals for Real Madrid who is the second in the all-time top scorers' list for the club.
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was dejected by his team’s defeat and said, “They are sad. They were close to reaching the final of the Champions League. We need time to process that and come back with our people at home for the last four games [in the Premier League]."
“In the first half, we didn't have rhythm," he continued. We were not good enough but didn't suffer much. After we scored we were better, we found our tempo, the players were comfortable”, Pep added.
Guardiola also talked about how Madrid dominated in the final minutes of the game and sealed the victory. He said, “In the last 10 minutes you expect they attack and you suffer and it didn't happen. Then they put a lot of players in the box with [Eder] Militao, Rodrygo, Vinicius [Jr.], [Marcos] Asensio and they scored two goals.”
“We didn't suffer much but we didn't play our best but it is normal in a semifinal -- players feel the pressure. We were close but football is unpredictable. Sometimes it is like this and you have to accept it”, Pep concluded.